Canada's national airline, previously known as Trans-Canada Airlines. Originally government owned, subsequently privatized in the late eighties and early nineties. Took over Canada's other major airline, Canadian Airlines, in 2000. For a few years, a combination of minimal competition within Canada and bad times for airlines in general led most Canadians to hate Air Canada (with some justification, as service tended to be poor and fares expensive where there was no competition). The subsequent emergence of Westjet as a competitor within Canada and improving revenue has meant that things have improved a bit in recent years. Air Canada has a regional affiliate, Jazz, that flies smaller aircraft on more lightly travelled routes.

Also known as:

Air Cannibal
Air Cannibis
Air Can't...uh...duh
Air Chaos
Air Crappy
Always Crappy
Err Canada
Mapleflot
Scare Canada
Trash Can

WINNIPEG International Airport will be given a new name today in a ceremony that will honour one of the country's earliest flying pioneers from one of the city's most prominent families. Justice Minister Vic Toews will announce this morning that the airport now being expanded will take the name of James A. Richardson.

A well-placed source said the name change is being made to honour the vision of the Winnipegger who established Western Canada Airways (WCA) in 1926, the first commercial airline in Canada.

A news conference has been arranged for 9:45 a.m. today at the airport.

The Winnipeg Airports Authority has spent $572 million on building a new terminal and its supporting infrastructure since plans to redo the facility were announced in 2000.

The new terminal will be open in 2009, said a Winnipeg Airports Authority spokeswoman Saturday.
Richardson was already president in the 1920s of the largest private company in Canada specializing in the grain industry -- James Richardson & Sons. The company had the name he shared with his grandfather and father.

He put up an initial $200,000 investment to launch the airline, and by 1927, his company's planes made regular trips to Churchill, Prince Albert, Berens River, Norway House, Moose Factory and Minneapolis.

"My father was very interested in the airline. He thought it was the best way to advance the North," said his son, George Richardson, in an interview with the Free Press about his father's airline in 2003. "My father was far-sighted and visionary and saw the potential and that was it."

Richardson said his father dreamed of a national airline, but in 1937, an air mail contract for WCA was cancelled, and the company later to become Air Canada was launched. In 1939, James A. Richardson unexpectedly died and WCA was purchased by Canadian Pacific.

"(Western Canada Airways) was the first company in Canada set up in a business-like way to open up and develop the North by airplane," Shirley Render told the Free Press in 2003.

Render is executive director of Winnipeg's Western Canada Aviation Museum and author of the 1999 book Double Cross, which details the history of Richardson's airline, as well as its battles with the federal government.

"He was a grain man who saw beyond the grain industry," she said.

Part of Richardson's proud air legacy is still making headlines. This July, the engine and propeller of a 1928 Fokker Standard Universal aircraft was debuted at the Western Canadian Aviation Museum after it was salvaged from a deep northern lake where it sank 75 years ago.

It was the first type of airplane Richardson purchased for his company, to complete bush flights to remote northern locations. The one displayed in Winnipeg now is believed to be the only such Fokker left in existence.

James A. Richardson passed away in 1939, and was inducted into Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame in 1976.

How would a new airport have any bearing on whether someone decides to start a direct flight from Winnipeg to Europe? I would guess that Winnipeg simply doesn't generate nearly enough full-fare traffic to sustain an expensive transcontinental service.

Flight capacity. The new terminal will be able to process more passengers at peak times. As well the new terminal will be able to dock more airlines during peak time slots. (ie: weekday early morning.. and afternoon peaks)

When the new airport is able to provide more options to airlines during peak times it becomes more attractive to exsisting and new airlines which are considering servring Winnipeg.

My question is; will they ACTUALLY USE the new name ie. in signage, on the airport website, in promotional campaigns, at other airports around the country and the world. Or will this just be symbolic, with the name "WPG International Airport" still dominating?

My question is; will they ACTUALLY USE the new name ie. in signage, on the airport website, in promotional campaigns, at other airports around the country and the world. Or will this just be symbolic, with the name "WPG International Airport" still dominating?

I'm pretty sure they'd use it as a city/name combo, so it would be called "Winnipeg/Richardson International Airport", like Chicago/O'Hare or Atlanta/Hartsfield, Cleveland/Hopkins, Minneapolis-St.Paul/Chamberlain, etc. Even Fargo's airport is called "Fargo/Hector International". That seems to be the standard format for using airport names named after someone.

what are passenger statistics at winnipeg international and the aircraft movements? anyone?

Courtesy of wikipedia..

Winnipeg International Airport (IATA: YWG, ICAO: CYWG) is an airport in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is the eighth busiest airport in Canada by passenger traffic, serving 3.2 million passengers in 2005, and the tenth busiest airport by aircraft movements.

Winnipeg is also Canada's third largest airport by cargo tonnage, with approximately 150,000 metric tonnes of air cargo moving through the airport in 2005. Two of Canada's largest air cargo companies use Winnipeg as a major domestic hub: Purolator and cargojet. It is one of five airports in Canada designated under the federal government's International Cargo Transshipment Program.

Am I the only one who got inundated with stories about the Richardsons - how they built Winnipeg, and how the entire country owes them a debt of gratitude due to their single-handedly ending WW2?

Bit of hyperbole, granted I guess if you weren't around during Winnipeg's brief high-rise "wars" in the 70s you might not remember much about the Richardson family. I just can't possibly ever use the word "underrated" to describe their reputation in Winnipeg with a straight face! They're one of the families that ranks up their with Bronfman or Asper in terms of media coverage, or at least sure used to be. I guess they've dropped off the radar as the kids and grandkids have come onto the scene.

The international air cargo transshipment program was initially intended to promote the use of small and under-utilized airports by simplifying air carrier access for air cargo transshipment and providing an additional incentive to use these airport's cargo facilities. This program was not available to larger airports.

Am I the only one who got inundated with stories about the Richardsons - how they built Winnipeg, and how the entire country owes them a debt of gratitude due to their single-handedly ending WW2?

Bit of hyperbole, granted I guess if you weren't around during Winnipeg's brief high-rise "wars" in the 70s you might not remember much about the Richardson family. I just can't possibly ever use the word "underrated" to describe their reputation in Winnipeg with a straight face! They're one of the families that ranks up their with Bronfman or Asper in terms of media coverage, or at least sure used to be. I guess they've dropped off the radar as the kids and grandkids have come onto the scene.

JAR - cool name, I like it beyond my smartass comments.

i think they are just keeping a low profile doing there little thing.
the richardson building actualy is one of my favorit buildings i can't figure out why though its weird must be the way the light reflects off it at certan times of the day and such

I like the new name for the airport, seems much better to name an airport for the father of Canadian civil aviation rather than a politician. James A. Richardson may not have quite managed to navigate the differences between the CP and CN railways enough for Canadian Airways to become the national carrier, but not only did it lay the groundwork for Canada's future in civil aviation, but TCA was started up using aircraft and staff that transferred from Canadian Airways and after Richardson's death the rest of Canadian Airways was sold to CP and went into the formation of Canadian Pacific Airlines. (There's a book by Shirley Render about James Richardson and Canadian Airways, if anyone's interested in that kind of stuff).

Quote:

Originally Posted by G.S MTL

what are passenger statistics at winnipeg international and the aircraft movements? anyone?

According to the WAA webpage last years traffic was 3,227,447. The running 12 month total would be 3,351,191 from Nov.05 through Oct.06. The 2006 traffic count should finish somewhere in the neighborhood of 3,338,000. Hopefully 3,500,000 for 2007.

I'd love to see more overseas service to YWG, even a second weekly flight on Zoom to LGW would go a long way to making that a more viable option for a bigger portion of the market.

That said, I think I'd pick a couple of other markets as more ripe for development right now. The new SLC route is kind of an odd fit for the YWG market, but we'll see how it does (starts in January). An EMB-170 flight to LAX operated by United or AC would be better - a reasonable originating/destination passenger market, opens up new connecting opportunities, and a good chance at generating new traffic. I'd also pick Lethbridge as a very underserved domestic market that could really use some east-west service, and has a fair bit of existing traffic (albeit largely through people driving to YYC). And on the charter front there's potential in the Florida market.